Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard is one of the most exciting talents in world tennis. At just 21 years of age, the Frenchman already has a place among the elite of world tennis and has already enjoyed a spell among the world’s top thirty players. Despite his youth, he already has two ATP Tour titles under his belt having taken the spoils in Basel and Lyon last year.

The Frenchman, who stands at a towering 6′ 8″, visited Gravesen on the Iguales podcast this week. Despite his imposing stature, Giovanni proved to be warm and friendly and the two enjoyed a light-hearted chat.

Football fanatic. “I love football. I really like it. My father was a professional footballer, he played on a team that was then in the second division in France and they did really well in the cup. He was a good centre-back”. Despite his father’s position, he revealed that he prefers to be at the other end of the pitch: “My hero growing up was Karim Benzema so I try to imitate him playing as a striker. I’m also a Madrid fan. My job this week is to see the Bernabeu, it’s a big dream of mine to visit the stadium”.

Talking about other sports, he said he is a big Formula 1 fan, particularly of England’s seven-time world champion: “I really admire Lewis Hamilton, I’m really inspired by his ability to follow his dreams. When Lewis started out in karting he wasn’t very welcome, but he didn’t care, he knew what his dream was and he chased it”. With a laugh he admitted that he could never be a formula one driver: “Unfortunately, because of my height, I don’t fit in those cars, what I have been able to do is drive round circuits in sports cars, but I would really love to go in a Formula 1 car. Maybe they can build a four-metre one just for me!”

His father. “I learned discipline from my father from a very young age. As I said, he was an elite sportsman and he taught me that if I wanted to be the best at something I had to work hard for it. He also demanded that I was well behaved at school. It’s true that I left home very young, at just twelve years of age and maybe I didn’t have such a close relationship with him as Hamilton has with his father, but he’s always been a role model for me”.

As you would expect from a sports fan, he proved to be very competitive when Gravesen tested him on the last ten champions of the Mutua Madrid Open, scoring an impressive eight out of ten. When he was asked who his dream mixed-doubles partner would be, he said he would love to play with his little sister who, at 16, is also a tennis player and they played the French Open qualifiers together. We have plenty of years left yet to enjoy the tennis of the Mpetshi Perricard family.